Confrontation
by blackberryboo
Summary: What are you going to do? Start a food fight?’ House put his fist in his mouth, making a mock anxious face that reminded him of momentarily of a Looney Tunes cartoon before the character blew up with TNT. Chase gripped the milk a little tighter.


Chase lent against the cafeteria doorframe, mindlessly flipping his wallet between his fingers as he watched the scene playing out in front of him. Cameron was sat in the centre of the hall, at a pale wood table, sitting on a small wooden chair that somehow swamped her, even though it was considered a smaller chair. She had agreed to meet him outside surgery, but her lunch break became earlier than expected and she had left a message with a lowly intern that she would eat alone. However when Chase arrived, she was sitting at the table he had expected.

With their former boss.

So here he was, trying to eavesdrop like a teenager in a busy classroom, trying to hear what his girlfriend was talking to her "ex" about. Except they were much further than boyfriend/girlfriend, they were way out of their adolescence and House and Cameron's relationship was far more complicated than "ex". And that unnerved him even more.

He almost flinched as she laughed at something House had said, throwing her head back, whilst House took the opportunity to steal the pudding laid on the corner of her tray. Even a small, genuine smile played on House's face during this teasing exchange, something he had rarely seen in his time around the man. The worried feeling had him thinking as too how long they had been sitting together, and how many times they had made this lunch date an occurrence. Trying to brush aside the niggling feeling that Cameron had deliberately taken an early lunch to eat _with _House, he shook his head, straightening up as he joined the lunch queue, trying to waste some time until she had left, leaving him to talk to the man that had fired him not so long ago.

Handing his cash to the disinterested brunette at the battered old till, he turned back to see Cameron's seat vacated, and replaced, with a young nurse, one he knew Cuddy had monitoring House's erratic behaviour. They're exchange was far different from House and Cameron's, much colder and informal, none of the display he had been witness to before that had showed House and his fiancée knew each other a lot better than Chase had expected. Clearing his throat he narrowed on their table, sitting his tray down between the nurse and Gregory House.

'No need to buy me lunch Chase, your happiness is reward enough for me.' He grinned sarcastically, the smiles he was used to.

'I want you to stop having lunch with her.'

House's face went to the nurse, watching innocently at the exchange.

'I'm sorry baby, I've told him a thousand times "I think it's time we start seeing other people" But you know these British, so possessive.'

The nurse frowned, taking a bite of her egg sandwich.

'I thought Dr Chase was Australian?'

'And now you're usefulness is over, Bu-bye' House told her, waving her away from the table. A momentary hurt expression fell upon her face, as she pulled her tray back, and stood up from the seat, moving several tables down. Chase placed himself in her seat, pulling his tray back in front of him, an almost stand-off moment passed between them.

He took a breath, pursing his lips, and uttered the name that always gave a possibility of conflict between them.

'Cameron.'

House's eyes snapped up to look at him.

'Where?!'

his genuine reaction was quickly masked as he overdramatically stood up, putting his hand across his eyebrows, scanning for Cameron across the hall.

'I want you to stop.'

House fell back down into his chair, leaning back casually. He gave no reply as he twitched his nose, watching Chase as if he was one of his puzzles, ideas of the nature of this conversation buzzing around in his brain.

'Cameron needs to distance herself from your team, she has the ER now, that's more than enough work.' He paused, taking a bite of his pepperoni pizza. 'She has me.'

'So what your saying is, your more than enough work? I can tell-'

Chase reached across and grabbed House

House's carton of milk as he had begun to reach for it.

'What are you going to do? Start a food fight?' House put his fist in his mouth, making a mock anxious face that reminded him of momentarily of a Looney Tunes cartoon before the character blew up with TNT. Chase gripped the milk a little tighter.

'…Then we'll get sent to the Principals office. And I don't know if you've seen her today, but her thong is _so _far up her ass I think she might snap.'

'Stop messing with her House.'

'Hey, if I was messing with her, you think I would be putting the thong _on_ her? _IF _you know what I mean.' He winked, snatching back his milk from Chase's grip. His blasé attitude to what Chase had hoped would be a serious discussion snapped his internal control and he shot up, leaning over the table, threateningly. This man wasn't his boss anymore. He couldn't fire him. He'd flown from the nest, and now he could fight the elder.

'You had your chance House. _You_ had your chance and _you_ wasted it. Because she wasn't a mystery anymore, because she wasn't a jigsaw you could put together, because you could have her. Now you can't. She's _mine_ House. _My_ fiancée, she _lives_ in _my_ house, she wears _my_ ring. Cameron is not your play-thing to chat up over your… Reuben sandwich, try and draw her back into your life. She's nothing to do with you anymore. You're a bastard and you don't get to have her in your life.'

Chase slammed the chair into the table, House's milk tipping over from the force, the white liquid pooling on the table, spilling slowly to the floor. The entire cafeteria fell silent as Chase breathed heavily, still glaring at House, as he watched him, even more intrigued than when Chase had first arrived.

'I'd say something…' House began, crossing his legs, a slight smirk upon his face. 'But the expression on _your _fiancée's face make's for a better comeback.'

Chase frowned, spinning on his heels, to come face to face with Dr. Allison Cameron, hands on her hips, eyes piercingly cold, and pissed off like never before.

House stood up from the table, not bothering to move the chair back into position. He stood next to Chase and Cameron, waving brightly.

'We'll I'm going to go now, General Hospital starts in 10 minutes and Emilio finds out his wife's twin had been sleeping with him when his other personality surfaces.' He pats Chase on the shoulder. 'The guy has issues.'

House nodded to her.

'Cameron.'

She didn't meet his eyes, instead continuing to stare at Chase, almost as if she was willing her stare to stab him in the chest.

All that could be heard from the cafeteria was the click of a cane and the happy whistling of its owner.


End file.
